England

Usually England goes to the World Cup with high hopes – making it to semi-finals is a must. This years it looks like the nation has accepted defeat and advancing to the knockout stages might be regarded as success.

Youngster will have fun

Narrative regarding England’s national team goes deeper than the team itself. People recognise that entire football structure needs to be reformed – young players are not technically and tactically equipped enough to play on this level. But even if they’re not far away from international level – nobody gives them a chance with Premier League teams finding players abroad.

But there’s a light in this tunnel and Roy Hodgson seems to see it clearly. On his 30-man provisional squad, he has found a place for Ross Barkley, Raheem Sterling and Luke Shaw (he took Ashley Cole’s place on the plane to Brazil) – three players who emerged last season and were really flashy this year. None of them are over 21.

This World Cup is thus not regarded in England as a definitive one, a one that has ‘now or never’ written all over it. It’s more of an adventure, gaining experience, having fun. That’s what English try to picture it with.

Defensive Roy

Problem is, England go to the World Cup with the least fun of managers they have. Hodgson’s name has been made not by his offensive football philosophy. No, he’s more of a defensive coach, who had good results with underdogs but was a complete flop in big clubs, like in Liverpool or Inter.

He started his England career with a rigid 4-4-2 and guided the team to a Euro 2012 quarter final against Italy (lost on penalties). Soon after he went for a more adventurous approach, but it still has some rigidness in it.

During his last friendly game – against Denmark in March, Hodgson went for a 4-3-3 formation with Steven Gerrard as a lone number six and Wayne Rooney upfront. He told his team to play short passing game and keep the ball calmly. Well, they did, but offered no penetration whatsoever.

No creativity?

The problem with this England team is that players are mostly coming from teams that play proactive, offensive football and generally like to dominate games, but none of them is actually the main creative figure in them (outside of Rooney, perhaps). Thus, they have problems with both positional play (nobody wants to take the responsibility) and with counterattacking (nobody feels comfortable).

Gerrard is now a Pirlo-type regista in Liverpool, but compared to the Italian he doesn’t really do much harm with his long passes. Jack Wilshere can play as a number 10, but he feels more comfortable if he has a licence to dribble and shoot – not make key passes. Barkley is a great young footballers, but hasn’t made an assist in the Premier League at all this season. English teams rely generally on Brazilian or Spanish playmakers, leaving the national team with limited creativity.

Playing style

England is an underdog in this group and will look to beat teams on the counter. Their biggest strength is their pace and Hodgson might want to use it properly.

Coach

Hodgson became England’s national team manager after Fabio Capello resigned and Harry Redknapp’s tax problems crossed him off the shortlist. He was then West Bromwich Albion manager and received plaudits for keeping the club in the Premier League.

Schedule and BETEGY suggestions

14th June, Manaus: vs. Italy (1-1)

19th June, Sao Paulo: vs. Uruguay (1-2)

24th June, Belo Horizonte: vs. Costa Rica (2-0)

England will be the victim of one of the toughest group. They have a 60% chance of qualifying to the knockout stages which is still lower than Uruguay’s (69%) and Italy’s (68%). Four points will not be enough to ensure qualification.